Exam 5: Foundations of Planning

Strategic plans address ________.

At some point, all managers create formal plans.

To gain a sustainable competitive advantage, a pharmaceutical company might ________.

An external analysis, the second step of the strategic management process, helps identify ________.

SWOT analysis combines ________.

Together, an organization's resources and core competencies make up which of the following?

All managers plan in some way, either formally or informally.

In a short essay, describe the final four steps in the strategic management process.

Planning rarely improves teamwork and cooperation among employees.

An organization's resources identify ________.

Which of the following would you expect to find in a clothing store that follows a cost leadership strategy?

A cell phone company might ask managers to do some environmental scanning of blogs that deal with electronics as a way to ________.

All of the following are threats to a sustainable, long-term competitive advantage EXCEPT ________.

A criticism of formal planning is that it focuses too much on groundbreaking visions and deals with ideas that are too innovative to work.

Planning gives organizations a way to deal with change that ________.

Traditional goal setting requires top managers to set goals that are carried out by the organizational levels below.

A diversified corporation is likely to have ________.

The four reasons that organizations plan are to establish coordinated effort, set standards, minimize waste, and reduce uncertainty and the impact of change.

Core competencies include an organization's major capabilities and its resources.

SWOT analysis includes the identification of an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.